Willow POV My two-hour training session turned into five hours. By the time Cordelia is done with me, my arms feel like jello. My feet drag as I walk from the training area back to the farmhouse. I am exhausted, and I cannot wait to crawl into bed for a few hours before Osiris wakes me. As I approach the farmhouse, my heart sinks. A group of rogue warriors is already gathered outside of the farmhouse. Osiris is standing on the porch giving them a speech. When he sees me, he raises his hand and gestures for me to join him. Mumbling obscenities under my breath as I approach Osiris, I realize I am not getting my nap. Plastering a fake smile on my face, I stand beside Osiris. Osiris wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me in close to him. My fake smile turns into a real one as I feel the tingles of the mate bond spread throughout my skin. Osiris's shoulders relax as I nuzzle into his side. He wraps his arm tightly around my waist and continues his speech. "We were att

Willow POV Faris's body floats to the middle of Lycan City Lake, just like his father before him and his grandfather before that. Horns play loudly, signifying the beginning of the lighting ceremony. I watch from a distance as the leader of the Royal Guard raises his hand in the air, and three archers light the tips of their arrows with flames. The leader lowers his hand, and the arrows fly into the air before hitting their mark. As Faris's body is engulfed in flames, I find myself shedding a tear. Not for the man Faris was at the end of his life, but for the man he was before I became his assassin. The uncle who would sneak me out of my house with his mate and feed me ice cream before dinner. The uncle who never missed a school event and treated me like his own flesh and blood even though I was not. Liz pulls at my black dress and looks up at me with her bright green eyes. "Are you okay?" She whispers, pulling my attention away from the end of my uncle's ceremony. "I'm